3 Myths About Astrology You Should Stop Believing

The practice of reading the stars to gain insight into our lives has been around for thousands of years, and yet it’s still vastly misunderstood. While reading editorialized horoscopes in magazines is certainly fun, it doesn’t convey the full meaning of this powerful tool that we can utilize to navigate our world. In reality, astrology empowers each and every person to take control of their life in some small way, and ultimately, to fulfill their own individual destiny. But in order to put this invaluable road map to use, some misconceptions need to be cleared up.

Myth #1: Astrology has something to do with magic, the paranormal, or psychic activity.

Those who don’t believe in astrology often write it off as something mysterious, but the truth is, astrology is really just based on how the universe looked on the day you were born. The main component used in astrology is a birth chart, which is created with information about when and where you were born. The chart itself is an imprint of what the planets, stars, and universe looked like at that precise moment.

It makes sense, then, that astrology is also called jyotish, which translates to “science of light.” What kind of light? The light of the planets, which reaches the earth. This includes the obvious, sun and moon, but also all the other planets. Though this science is probably not the exact same type you learned in school, it does bear some similarities and it’s not mystical in any way. It’s simply based on the objects we know are in the universe, and there’s nothing too mysterious about that.

Myth #2: Astrology is just a fun pastime.

Many people enjoy reading horoscopes online and think of it as just an entertaining hobby. In reality, astrology is much more meaningful than a diversion.

Vedic astrology is deeply dependent on karma and reincarnation. It’s a common belief that when a person dies, their soul leaves their body. In Vedic tradition, the subconscious mind goes with the soul as part of the package, which carries all a person’s memories, feelings, emotions, desires, experiences, and, of course, their accumulated karma. This subconscious mind doesn’t know right from wrong and has no logical skills; it just exists. But in order for any of that information to be put to use, the soul must attach itself to a body. This process happens automatically, and your subconscious actually chooses when you’ll be born, to what parents, at what time, in which place.

In this sense, your birth chart is the seed of eventuality of your karma which has come to a fruition point and has formed your destiny in this lifetime. It’s essentially your accumulated karma. Let’s say your chart shows that this seed is an apple seed. That means the potentiality of the seed is to become an apple tree; to grow hundreds of thousands of apples, and to live its life for whatever period of time. This is the potentiality of every single chart. It shows the seed which has the possibility to achieve its fully-grown destiny to bear the fruits of your karma. Basically, your chart is the blueprint of your destiny, written in a language that only the astrologer understands. That’s a lot more significant than just whether you’ll have a good week or bad week, right?

Myth #3: Astrology can predict or change the future.

This is, perhaps, the most dangerous assumption people make about astrology. Contrary to popular belief, its purpose is not to guess what will happen to you in the future. Instead, it’s meant to be a guiding tool that empowers you to make conscious decisions and avoid the ditches in life. Astrology aims to help you stay aligned with the oneness of the universe. When you’re not aligned and things keep going wrong, it can help guide you to better decisions.

A lot of people also think that an astrologer can change their life or destiny. This is not possible. Think about it this way: An astrologer has not created your destiny, so he cannot change it. It’s actually you—your subconscious and accumulated karma—who has created your destiny. In life, you get the chance to edit it just a little bit through choices and decisions. You have created it, so you have some power to control it, but you cannot change the whole thing.

Let me put it this way: If you’re an apple seed, you’re never going to become an orange tree. Perhaps you can’t avoid getting a certain disease, but you can choose how you treat it and deal with it. In this sense, astrology can help by being the guide with which you make choices that will allow you to experience the best case scenario of your own individual destiny. It starts with you and ends with you; it’s as simple as that.

>>For a private session with Sanjeev Verma, the meditation master, life coach, spiritual master and Vedic astrologer, visit Sanjeevsv.com or call +1-519-721-1234.